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Ausjazz blog takes a look at how singer/songwriter Monique diMattina has taken some song ideas through customs, taken a flight overseas, and come home with a new album

It’s an intriguing and original way to record an album: Take an idea provided by someone else, spend 45 minutes writing lyrics and a melody, carry those ideas on a plane to New Orleans, team up with some fine musicians and lay down the tracks at Piety Street in the Bywater.

That’s how Monique diMattina made her fourth album, Nola’s Ark, on a pilgrimage to New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA to the locals) when she was 20 weeks pregnant.

The imaginative approach to song writing is not new for diMattina, who appears weekly on Tim Thorpe’s 3-RRR program Vital Bits for her Shaken Not Rehearsed segment, in which she writes and performs a song within an hour, based on listener’s requests.

The gestation of the second track on Nola’s Ark, Dig A Hole, is an example of how this creative and courageous process works.

First, there’s the challenge, issued by diMattina over the radio waves: “I’m here to write a song, every Sunday, so at 7.45 the challenge is out there. Call in and give me an idea and I’ll run off and write it.”

Then comes the idea.

A listener rings in: “I want to have my Saturday morning lovin’, but I’ve got to go out and dig trenches because of all the rain.

diMattina: “Oh, don’t you hate that.”

Listener: “I had to, yesterday.”

diMattina: “So you want your Saturday morning lovin’, you have to get out from under the doona, put on your … “

Listener: “Get the shovel out of the shed, and dig trenches down the side of the house so little rivers will escape my property.”

diMattina: “And who’re we talking to?”

Listener: “Greg

The delivery: In 39 minutes, diMattina has lyrics and a melody for Dig A Hole For Love.

It starts like this:

Come on babe hug me ‘coz I’m feeling all right

It’s warm under the covers gonna take you for a ride She says “Hold on baby what you tryin to do? you knooow I can’t stay and get hot with you –‘cos the water’s risin, so quit your cryin and Pick up a shovel dig a hole for love

This is a familiar routine for diMattina at 3RRR. On her website, she explains:

“Assuming I arrive on time, listeners call in 7.45am with a song idea. I hole myself up in Studio B, pray to the song gods, align my chakras with a complex ritual involving caffeine … and more caffeine … and receive whatever chaff they throw me.

“Some time just before 9am I play the fresh-born song live to air, coughing, spluttering, covered in vernix, but usually alive.”

Another caller, Rick, rang in after a Melbourne summer downpour wanting a song about the release of rain on the dry, dry earth. He had a property in Gippsland.

“I was struggling a bit, Tim,” diMattina says on air.

“It just felt like a bit of a boring song about rain and stuff and then I remembered the feeling, when I was living in Harlem when Obama came in, and Rick said, if release had a smell that the smell of the earth after rain would be it. And that started to strike a nerve with me, so that helped me along.”

The result was the song Bring On the Rain.

diMattina does not shy away from serious topics. Her song Godzilla is a response to a request from Steven, who had been watching footage of the devastation caused by 2011’s earthquake and tsunami on Japan and its nuclear reactors. He likened the images to Godzilla stomping across Japan.

As diMattina originally sang Godzilla on Triple R, she did without her piano “in solidarity with our friends in Japan”.

At Piety Street, the line-up for Nola’s Ark was diMattina on vocals, piano, Wurlitzer and Hammond organ, Leroy Jones on trumpet, Rex Gregory on clarinet, Loren Pickford on sax, June Yamagishi on guitars, Matt Perrine on acoustic bass and sousaphone, Eric Bolivar on drum, Richard Scott on accordion and Anthony Cuccia on percussion.

The talented ensemble is used to good effect on the five hastily written and four other originals, plus standards Young at Heart (Richards/Leigh), Let’s Do Something Bad (Matt Munisteri), I’ll Be Seeing You (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal) and Numb Fumblin’ (Fats Waller).

If it seems surprising that songs written on the run could work so well when taken into a New Orleans studio with musicians new to the composer, it’s worth taking on board diMattina’s long affection for the music from NOLA.

In her album notes, she writes that all her life she has “loved and lived off the sounds and spirits of this swamp, that cross time, swim seas, pump blood for dancing, singing, crying winging, for suffering, truth, for soothing, sneaky grooves that move and woo”.

It would be interesting to know whether the five people who rang in with their ideas to Triple R are aware that they inspired a song that would be recorded overseas. And diMattina’s approach to composing raises the possibility of jazz fans turning up at gigs with a riff or two they want turned into a tune to be played on the night.

If instrumental “jazz karaoke” does take off, you heard it here first.

Joining Monique will be six Australian musicians who are guaranteed to help her launch the album with verve and panache: Eamon McNelis (trumpet, vocals), Stephen Grant (accordion), Paul Williamson (saxophone), Doug de Vries (guitar), Howard Cairns (sousaphone, bass) and Tony Floyd (drums).

Monique diMattina studied at the VCA in the mid 90s, then studied and worked in the US. Her earlier albums are Senses (2007 Elwood Records), Welcome Stranger (2010 Head Records) and Sun Signs (2011 Head Records).

In last year’s preview of this much-loved festival I wrote, “It’s a big year for vocalists”. Well, back then we didn’t know what “big” meant. So, to borrow the words of Paul Hogan as Dundee, 2012 wasn’t a big year, THIS is a big year for vocalists.

It’s taken some ferreting about in the program, and I may have missed some, but on my count 22 vocalists are performing at Stonnington Jazz this year in 18 concerts, with two taking to the stage twice. You have to admit that for a festival lasting 11 days to provide patrons with so much vocal talent is an amazing achievement. By the way, of the 22, only four are men, so there is a definite gender imbalance. But among instrumental players it’s skewed in the other direction.

This year’s outings do not all feature vocalists, of course, but a look at the singers’ gigs is a good place to start when browsing the program with a view to selecting highlights.

The opening night concert at Malvern Town Hall on Thursday 16 May at 8pm will feature National Jazz Awards winners Michelle Nicolle and Kristin Berardi in a Jazz Vocals Showcase. Both are well known and much-loved artists, with extensive experience and acclaim. Nicolle will be accompanied by her long-standing band, Geoff Hughes (guitar), Tom Lee (bass) and Ronny Ferella (drums). Berardi will treat us to Sydney musicians Carl Morgan (guitar), Greg Coffin (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Tim Firth (drums).

The second set at Chapel Off Chapel on the evening of 21 May, when drummer, band leader, raconteur and poet Allan Browne will lead a sextet through original music inspired by his published poetry, Conjuror. Allan will be joined by Eugene Ball (trumpet), Phil Noy (saxophone), Marc Hannaford (piano), Geoff Hughes (guitar) and Nick Haywood (drums).

Sydney-based and internationally renowned pianist Mike Nock will play a set of improvisations with guitarist Stephen Magnusson and saxophonist Julien Wilson at Chapel Off Chapel during a performance — including a set from the Jex Saarelaht Trio — beginning at 8pm on 23 May. Nock’s gig with Magnusson at Wangaratta last year was magnificent.

Recent inductee to the Australian Bell Awards Hall of Fame, James Morrison will join pianist Joe Chindamo at the Malvern Town Hall at at 8pm on Friday, 24 May. In the first set Chindamo, accompanied by Philip Rex (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums), will rearrange familiar music as a tribute to Dave Brubeck. Morrison and Chindamo will then play duets or with Rex and Fischer.

That’s the preview. It’s a feast for lovers of vocals, with lots of other highlights. And of course Stonnington Jazz is always a friendly festival with a really nice vibe. That may be in part because it is displaying the talents of Australian jazz musicians.

Maybe the stars are aligned. Maybe the success of voices raised against broadcaster Alan Jones has set the earth back on its axis. Maybe the irresistible force of vocal talent which is about to gather at Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival from November 2, 2012 is exerting its magnetic power.

Whatever the reason, this reluctant enthusiast for vocals in improvised music has received some signs that a Kurt Elling experience may lie ahead for me in the wilds of Wangaratta this year. When Elling performed at this prestigious festival, I was initially reluctant, then so captivated that I went back for more. (Why reluctant? Well, I have often found that the when music includes vocals, I quietly and secretly wish that I could hear the (other) instruments — and that is not from any lack of respect for the talents of the vocalists.)

Gelareh Pour

So, what signs have I seen? Well, at two recent gigs I have unexpectedly warmed to the work of vocalists, albeit only one of whom will be performing at Wangaratta in 2012.

In a short set at the Make It Up Club in Fitzroy, Adam Simmons played shakuhachi in a duo with Iranian Gelareh Pour, who played the kamanche stringed-instrument and sang so effortlessly and with such purity of sound that I was entranced.

Louise Goh

Since then, at Paris Cat, Sarah Holmes invited Louise Goh to the microphone in a set by The Outfit. Again, I was struck by how much wordless vocals added to the pieces.

Neither Gelareh Pour nor Louise Goh will be at this year’s festival, but you never know what the future will bring.

And, as if these were not sufficient signs of the earth moving, I have had the opportunity to be immersed in the striking and compelling contribution of Carl Pannuzzo to MAGNET, which is the quartet comprising the vocalist along with Stephen Magnusson, Sergio Beresovsky and Eugene Ball. The self-titled album just released will, I predict, make its mark. Pannuzzo really takes the listener into interesting territory and demonstrates the power of vocals, as I am sure he will demonstrate with MAGNET at Wangaratta.

So having heard the portents and read the signs, I await the vocal delights at Wangaratta with the expectation of a student beginning a new subject.

Most of the population of music lovers will be hanging out for the strong, soulful voice of Gregory Porter (pictured top left in this post), who grew up in Los Angeles, but has been based in New York for the past couple of years. Porter will play with Australians John McAll on piano, Nick Lester on saxophones, Zvi Belling on bass and Danny Farrugia on drums. Artistic director of the festival, Adrian Jackson, says Porter’s music incorporates soul and gospel elements, particularly his original material but that if you hear him do some the standards on his recordings, such as Skylark and But Beautiful (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke) he’s a really superb jazz singer.

Also a drawcard at Wangaratta will be Cyrille Aimee (pictured top right in this post), a young singer from France with a creative, effusive and fun style. She won the Montreux Jazz Festival International Singing Competition in 2007 and was runner up in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Singing Competition in 2010. Based in New York, she often performs at Dizzy’s, Birdland and Smalls. Her Surreal Band, which features expatriate Australians Sam Anning on bass and Raj Jayaweera on drums, will be joined by guitarist James Sherlock.

Of course there will be a whole lot more vocalists featured at this year’s festival, including the 10 finalists in the National Jazz Awards. They are Aimee, 28, from France (currently based in New York); Kristin Berardi, 31, from Sydney; Briana Cowlishaw, 23, from Sydney; Luara Karlson-Carp, 21, from Brisbane; Kate Kelsey-Sugg, 23, from Melbourne; Joshua Kyle, 26, from Melbourne; Chantal Mitvalsky, 29, from Melbourne; Judith Perl, 23, from Melbourne; Liz Tobias, 28, from Adelaide (currently based in Boston) and Katie Wighton, 24, from Sydney. For Miriam Zolin‘s interviews with the finalists, visit Jazz Planet.

The 10 were chosen after the three judges (Mike Nock, Michelle Nicolle and Vince Jones) assessed over 60 recorded entries on a ‘blindfold’ basis. They will perform at Wangaratta with an outstanding band comprising Sam Keevers (piano), Sam Anning (bass) and Raj Jayaweera (drums).

As well, Michelle Nicole and Vince Jones will perform with their bands, and Cyrille Aimee will open the Cup Eve concert before Vince Jones takes the stage.